‘Cowboy’ time in St. Joe

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As a onetime “Cowboy,” a stop at the Stetson outlet store in St. Joseph was eventually going to happen.

As a kid, I wanted to be a cowboy. My nickname in Kennard was “Cowboy.” When I learned how to ride a bicycle, shoe strings were attached to the handle bar as reins. Halloween costume? Easy. Where’s my hat, boots and six shooter?

I’ve since outgrown wanting to be a cowboy. Cowboy boots hurt my feet as I grew older. Not sure there is much of a market for a cowboy wearing tennis shoes on the range.

However, I’ve maintained an interest in the hats.

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We had some time to burn on our recent trip to St. Joe. We’ve seen the flyers advertising the outlet store, so we thought we’d give it a visit.

St. Joe actually used to make the western hats. The plant has since moved to Texas.

The store had a few visitors. A dad and his two daughters were checking out hats. They left without getting anything, but I saw them each put on the hats before they left in their truck afterward.

We checked out the rows and rows of hats.

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The store has a variety of hats – stylish (I call them Downton Abbey hats), sombreros, hipster, as well as men’s and women’s western.

There are jeans, shirts, tops and belts among the items available.

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Before we left, I pulled the trigger and picked up a cowboy hat on clearance. I figure it can hang in the house as a decoration.

Now, if only they had a horse on clearance…